He puts
the SUV in park and turns his body toward me. “Most things you can, Mrs. Mason.
Hang around me for a little while, and you’ll find out how.”

“For
instance,” I tease, still feeling some of the vodka. “You can’t make me take
your case. If I wanted to, I could dump you as a client and there wouldn’t be a
damn thing you could do about it.”

He
scoffs. “But you won’t.”

“How do
you know that?” I grin back at him. Conversing with River has become a game.

“Because
right now, I’m the most exciting thing you have going on in your life.” He
brushes a stray piece of hair away from my eyes. “You get up every morning and
throw on one of your expensive business suits. You wear your hair the same way,
take your coffee the same way, and leave for work at exactly the same time.
Your life revolves around the four walls that make up your little office, but
your clients—they aren’t like me. You work late because your husband either
isn’t home or he’s home but he’s not really there, not the way you want him to
be anyway. That’s your life, Marley.”

“You
don’t know anything.” My voice bellows.

“Then
tell me what part of that I got wrong.”

I open my
mouth to argue, but he has me pegged. One freaking day, and he has me all
figured out.

“I need
to go,” I say, pushing the door open. I punch the numbers into garage door and
pray it opens before he has any thought of coming after me. It works the first
time, and as soon as I close the door and walk into the kitchen, I hear his SUV
pull away.